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Servants of the Truth
The Servants of the Truth are a Chaos Warband formed at the end of the Horus Heresy by Blood Angels that turned away from the Imperium. The Servants of the Truth are primarily driven by their belief that in his final moments the Primarch Sanguinius turned to Chaos before being slain by not Horus, but the Emperor. Thus, by their service to the Ruinous Powers, they are fulfilling their gene-father’s final orders. History Origins The 212th Company of the Blood Angels Legion was lead with dignity and valor throughout the latter stage of the Great Crusade by Captain Abdiel Tiberian. They fought for their Primarch valiantly, enduring the hardships of the Signus Campaign and fighting to defend the Imperial Palace during the final apocalyptic Battle of Terra. By the end of the Horus Heresy, the company was down to 25 Marines. As they sat in a camp in the Himalazian Mountains (Himalayas) waiting to return to Baal, a deafening crash rang out a short distance away. Running to it, a scouting party found a badly wounded Sanguinary Guardsman. The Guardsman claimed to be a survivor of the battle aboard the ''Vengeful Spirit'', and he broke dire news to the 212th. He claimed to them that during the battle, their gene-father Sanguinius had turned to Chaos before his death. He said that Sanguinius did not die fighting Horus, as was commonly believed, but that he was slain by the Emperor Himself. Before he died, he beseeched the 212th to obey their gene-father’s last orders, and serve the Primordial Truth. Over the following week, the 212th snuck around the Blood Angels Legion, assembling more Battle-Brothers to their cause. Then, as they left Terra, they rose up in unison, highjacking several vessels and making a beeline for the Eye of Terror. All of this was done in secret, and the vessels were presumed 'Lost to the Warp' by their loyal brethren. Awakening After fleeing to the Eye of Terror, the Servants began to launch occasional raids into nearby space. They did not try to challenge the Imperium during the Scouring, save a few occasions where they sent forces out to do battle, mostly skirmishing with their loyalist cousins and former battle-brothers. Those forces that stayed in the Eye of Terror infiltrated other Warbands, seeking Blood Angels amongst their ranks, and sharing the Truth of their gene-sire's death to these Brothers, and bringing them back to join the Servants. Many Blood Angels obliged, and the Servants of the Truth swelled in number, becoming a major player amongst the non-legionary Warbands. With most heretical Blood Angels united under their leadership, the Servants of the Truth began to attack the Imperium, just as the Great Scouring was coming to a close. Notable Campaigns The Legion Wars (Early M31) With the Servants being successors of a Loyalist Legion, the Servants of the Truth were singled out early on by the Emperor’s Children when they started their slave raids. After several minor clashes that resulted in Servant slaves being stolen by the Children, the Servants of the Truth rallied their full strength and fought back. The Emperor's Children had underestimated the small Warband, and sent only 500 Astartes to attack the Servants’ 300. The Emperor’s Children fleet was ambushed as it was deploying, causing considerable losses and driving it off, leaving those deployed on Kaitos with no method of escaping. In the following ground battle, Kaitos’ central mountain range was used to isolate the Emperor’s Children, using the void superiority to outmaneuver them and defeat them in detail. After this victory, Abdiel ordered the Servants of the Truth to abandon the planet, knowing that the Emperor’s Children would be back in greater numbers, numbers far too great for them to withstand. Fleeing Kaitos, the Servants of the Truth would fight alongside elements of the Sons of Horus against the Emperor’s Children in several different battles. However, this alliance would not last, and once the fighting of the Legions turned Fulgrim's attention away from the Servants, there was a skirmish between the Sons and the Servants, which did prove to be a minor Servants of the Truth victory, with several vessels being captured. In the aftermath of the Battle of Skalathrax, the Servants assaulted several World Eaters warbands. In a close-fought battle over Meitov, these warbands rallied together to resist the Servants, and they nearly overran them before their boarding parties were repulsed and their fleet destroyed or captured. Now in possession of a sizeable fleet, the Servants required more materiel to supply their armies, so they attacked a Tzeentch-allied Hell-Forge. This Hell-Forge was defended by a Thousand Sons warband, and the reverse of the Battle of Kaitos almost occurred as their fleet only entered auspex range until midway through the Servants’ deployment. It was only by Abdiel and his captains swinging their fleet around as one, organized body and seamlessly shifting formation to move through an asteroid field that they managed to form an effective defense and win the orbital battle. On the ground, the Servants dropped directly onto the Thousand Sons, engaging them in a melee they were ill-suited for, and forcing the surrender of the Hellforge, providing enough loot to supply the Servants for the rest of the war, and again yielding plenty of ships, including several hulks that had still been in construction. After this, the Servants returned to Kaitos. They were now overstretched. Their fleet was much larger than a Warband of their size could hope to maintain and protect, so they assembled their hulks and heavily damaged vessels into one of the system’s Lagrange Points, pushing them together and taking advantage of gravity to push them into a massive hulk that would form the foundation of the Angel's Blessing. Towards the end of the Legion Wars, the Servants of the Truth picked a side in the great dispute between Thagus Daravek and Ezekyle Abaddon. They sided with Daravek’s Legionhost, primarily because the Black Legion’s ways of abandoning old Legion identities stood in stark contrast to the Servants’ own ideology. Under Daravek’s banner, the Warband knew a period of considerable success, razing Black Legion worlds while Abaddon was occupied initiating the First Black Crusade. The Servants of the Truth went with Daravek to his Abaddon’s Crusading force in the rear, and it was during this apocolayptic battle that the Servants of the Truth deserted, as did most of the Legionhost, when Daravek was seriously wounded by Iskandar Khayon. The Servants went on their own way, descending into Segmentum Obscurus to begin a campaign against the Imperium there and waiting for the situation within the Eye to cool down. The Quest for the Spear, (021.M31) Acting upon information from an infiltrator within the Black Legion, the Warband rallied their forces in an effort to retrieve Spear of Telesto, the weapon used by their Genefather during the Great Crusade. They sent in several Brothers, including Captain Cerviel Nentre, to the Black Legion to retrieve it. The Spear was found to be on the planet of Wiunus in the possession of Nariam Domaris, a Blood Angel who had fallen to the worship of Tzeentch, and who was holed up in a fortress with a group of followers. The Servants couldn’t assault it directly without provoking the might of the Black Legion. So, Cerviel Nentre recruited a strike force of Black Legionnaires to assault the fortress. Several Blood Angels serving with the Black Legion joined this strike force, as did several dozen Fallen, descended of Lion’El Johnson. In minority, Astartes were present that were sons of all of the Traitor primarchs. As the Strike Force descended on Wiunus, Nariam Domaris was unaware of their approach. In fact, the first Stormbirds were able to deploy their troops before the alarm was raised. A fierce firefight ensued, with the Servants forces using melta bombs to collapse the walls of Domaris’ fortress. Once the breach had been made, the Blood Angels among the Strike Force lead the way through it, with the others following close behind. For hours they cut through Domaris’ followers, Astarte and mortal alike. Nentre was at the tip of the spear, rending all those who thought they could stand up to him. The Strike Team made a beeline for Domaris’ makeshift throne room, where the Spear was kept. Once they reached the door, the sons of other Primarchs turned around and began to spread out throughout the fortress, leaving the Sons of Sanguinius to enter. Cerviel Nentre made this decision not out of a desire for glory, but in prediction of what would happen. Sure enough, as the force entered, Nariam Domaris fired at them with the Spear of Telesto itself. Had the Servants brought their allies in with them, every last one of said allies would have been killed by this blast. Not expecting them to survive, Nariam was caught off guard when Cerviel rushed him, totally unharmed. Grasping the Spear of Telesto, far too large for Nariam to effectively use to defend himself, Cerviel cast it aside. Domaris barely drew his power sword to block Cerviel’s next blow, and a lengthy duel ensued between the two. The men were evenly matched, because the Lord of Trickery himself was providing Nariam with brief prescience, enabling him to see Cerviel’s blows before he struck them. At one point, Nariam’s guard faltered, and Cerviel’s blade cut deep into his arm. Shocked by the sudden betrayal of his patron, and of the overall situation of the battle, he gave in to the Black Rage, throwing himself with abandon at Cerviel, only to be cut down. In the following hours, the Strike Team cleared the fortress of Nariam Domaris’ followers, and secured the Spear of Telesto for the Servants of the Truth. In the aftermath, all of the Strike Team, including those who were not descendent of Sanguinius, joined the Warband. Though still predominantly Blood Angel, Astartes of all geneseeds had joined the Servants during the Legion Wars, and they were now bolstered by the Strike Team members. In the early days, when numbers were of a serious concern, geneseed was gratefully used regardless of its origin. In later millennia, where Blood Angels geneseed was much easier to steal, much of the other geneseed was bred out, though there are still Servants of the Truth that can trace their genes back to the Lion. The Spear itself would be a valued artifact by the Servants of the Truth for millennia until it was later lost. The Sacking of Spectrum Secundus, (999.M40) At the tail end of the 39th Millennium, the Servants of the Truth were made aware of the existence of a relatively young loyalist Blood Angels chapter, the Spectral Blood, upon the world of Spectrum Secundus. Almost immediately, Abdiel Tiberian called the Second Bloodhost to him, and he took them, along with his own First Bloodhost, to wipe out the Spectral Blood. When the Servants’ fleet arrived in the system, they struck with overwhelming force. The Chapter fleet that was there was almost immediately overrun, and the Chaos fleet settled in, laying siege to the planet’s orbital defenses and taking several days before lance fire and strike craft brought them offline. Quickly, several vessels took up a deployment pattern aboard the planet, and sent the first Servants of the Truth down to Spectrum Secundus. The first wave consisted of mostly Tactical marines, send to secure a beachhead and make contact with the Spectral Blood. They found a planet constantly shrouded in darkness, locked in perpetual night. Blundering through, these first Astartes found themselves in a fierce firefight with foes they could scarcely see. The Spectral Blood had lured this first force into a prepared killzone, but had in their engaging the first wave given away their position. With a word from the Warlord, the second wave of Assault troops descended from the skies, the Angel’s Chosen at their head slamming into the ranks of the Spectral Blood. When the Servants’ assault infantry touched down, they managed complete surprise. The Spectral Blood’s strategy of a long range ambush turned against them as it left them open to the close quarters assault. Using the darkness to their advantage, the survival of the First Wave closed in. The battle quickly turned in the Servants’ favor as dozens of Spectral Blood astartes were cut down. Already this would’ve been a cataclysmic defeat for a Chapter, but it grew worse as the Servants advanced on their foe’s fortress monastery, landing more troops and butchering the PDF that stood in their way. The Spectral Blood’s attempts to commit to a decisive land battle left their fortress undermanned as the Heretical assault began. Quickly the Chapter called its forces back to defend their home, but the Servants quickly penetrated the monastery walls and got to grips with the defenders. Once more the Servants’ superiority in close quarters battle became apparent and after a few days of intense fighting, the Spectral Blood had to flee their homeworld. For a week, Spectrum Secundus was dominated by the Warband. Cultists and some Astartes spread out to loot the planet of its valuables and spread the Angel’s Truth amongst the populace. The Servants themselves sacked the Spectral Blood’s monastery, taking multiple relics and large portions of the chapter’s geneseed stocks. Those who could be taken alive were hauled aboard ships in orbit for attempted indoctrination or execution, and many of the Spectral Blood’s neophytes and scouts were taken for induction. The defeat was crushing, but not life ending for the Spectral Blood. Indeed, there were many survivors, both from a full company that was too far away to partake in the doomed defense, and in the about 130 survivors who had evacuated the fortresses monastery. The Spectral Blood’s Chapter Master Alyxander made a stand with his Sanguinary Guard to allow his brothers escape from the doomed fortress. Abdiel sought these men out and a ferocious duel commenced. The Loyalists fought valiantly, but were overpowered by their traitoris kin, and the Warlord smote the Chapter Master on the chest with his blade. The three surviving Loyalist Sanguinary Guardsmen rushed their liege back to their comrades before launching a berserk charge at their lord’s would-be killer. In the few moments they fought on, they all fell to the Black Rage. Two were cut down, but one, now possessing the strength of an Abyssal Brother, fought on before he was eventually brought to his knees and captured by the Servants of the Truth. After the week had past and the Servants had what they needed, they left the planet, leaving it open for the Spectral Blood and their allies to return and establish control. Ever since, the Spectral Blood, their parent chapter the Dragons Sanguine, and their various allies have sworn revenge against the Servants of the Truth. The Thirteenth Black Crusade, (999.M41) The Last Airtha Crusade, (999.M41) The Fall of Cornelia, (Early M42) During the Great Expansion, the Dark Librarians of the Servants of the Truth detected a great battle being fought in their fleet's vicinity. They moved en masse to intervene, and found a perfect situation to exploit. The Corpse Kings and Astral Warriors Chapters had been locked in costly siege warfare for several months, and the Warriors' final charge was underway. The Servants swept down upon them, attacking both sides. 300 Berserkers lead the way as they slammed into the surface. The skies over the planet of Cornelia darkened as they arrived. The Berserkers, under Captain Nentre, assaulted the Astral Warriors directly, landing on them in the middle of their charge, and running rampant among their battered ranks. The Warriors put up a valiant resistance, but against the veteran and more importantly fresh Servants of the Truth, they could not put up a serious fight. The Warriors were annihilated under this new attack, and the Corpse Kings maimed and driven from the field. In the aftermath, the Servants helped themselves to a bounty of loot. Terminator Armor, Custom Vehicles, and all sorts of other technology were taken into the Warband’s stocks, and gene-seed was collected for sale to Fabius Bile. Gene-Seed The Servants of the Truth have very interesting geneseed. They suffer from the Black Rage,but at a reduced rate, something they see as Sanguinius’ blessing from the Warp. However, their rate of the Red Thirst is much higher than the average Loyalist Blood Angel. Those who suffer the Red Thirst commonly find themselves among the Angel's Chosen. Warband Home World The Servants of the Truth are based not upon any planet, but rather upon a Space Hulk called the Blessings of the Angel. As of M42, is usually kept relatively stationary within the Circatrix Maledictum. It does, however, possess limited mobility, so if neccessary it can be moved. Its garrison can vary from a Battalion to 2 full Bloodhosts, depending on the circumstances. Recruitment Despite their dedication to Sanguinius, only about 70% of the Servants of the Truth actually possess his Geneseed. Such a high percentage of the Angel’s DNA, is impressive nonetheless, and the Warband goes to great engths to procure succh precious geneseed. Abdiel Tiberian operates a vast intelligence network that has infiltrated many Loyalist Blood Angels successors.This network allows him to plan attacks on the geneseed tithes that Astartes chapters send back to Mars. Many such a shipment has not reached its destination because the ship carrying the precious cargo was ambushed by the Servants of the Truth, who carry the geneseed off to replenish their own number. Also it is common to steal Neophytes from loyalist chapters, usually by overpowering a Chapter that is too weak to defend itself, but sometimes via subterfuge. Some come to the Truth willing, but many do not, and the Servants of the Truth are not above capturing Loyalists, almost exclusively Scouts though the occasional Full Battle Brother, and indoctrinating them into the Angel’s Truth. Many, especially many full Astartes, do not embrace the Truth, and these individuals are brutally disposed of. Organization One of the key advantages of the Servants of the Truth over many of Chaos forces is their system of organization. Built solidly on tradition, they follow the old ways of the Blood Angels Legion. The Warband itself is divided into 5 Bloodhosts of 1,000 Astartes each, lead by a Lord Sanguine and a Coronarius. These two are almost invariably members of the first group of Blood Angels to betray the Imperium, though attrition to that number means a few newer Astartes occupy these roles. All are hand picked by, and personally loyal to, Abdiel Tiberian. These Bloodhosts are each divided into 2 Battalions of 500 Astartes. Battalions are under the command of a Chaos Lord. These Battalions are then divided into 5 Companies, each of 100 Astartes. These Companies consist of 5 Tactical squads, 2 Havoc squads, and 3 Raptor squads. The standard-line tactical marines of the Servants of the Truth are referred to as Legionnaires, again echoing back to the Blood Angels of old. The bulk of the Warband’s fighting power, they wield bolter and chainsword, attempting to best apply overwhelming force to break the lines, spirit, and eventually the bodies of their opponents. Those who can scavenge such wargear occasionally fly into battle with Raptors hold a position of considerable importance within the Warband. Generally armed with a pistol weapon and some kind of close combat or power weapon, they carry the banner of the Blood Angels assault companies of old. Though generally inferior to the Angel’s Chosen, they are also more numerous thanks to their ability to recruit from Servants of all genetic lineages. With the Warband’s focus on close combat, one thinks ranged combat may be neglected. This is not entirely true, as the Servants of the Truth maintain a well trained and disciplined force of Havocs for providing fire support. Generally cooperating with the Legionnaires of their company, they can provide a hellish fusilade of firepower to suppress and destroy hostile forces. Doctrine As Scions of Sanguinius, the Servants of the Truth employ a combat doctrine that is focused on close quarters combat. Gunships and drop pods are used to deliever Servants of the Truth Astartes to the surface of a battlefield in close proximity with the the enemy, where they are greeted with a salvo of point-blank bolter fire before being charged by the main body. They are not unable to fight at range, but they have a vast preference for combat that is up close and personal. This is all done with the objective of breaking in enemy force, either physically or in morale, with the use of vast, overwhelming force, capitalizing to the maximum on the shock of their deployment. Unique Units The Angel's Chosen The Angel’s Chosen is a specialist unit employed by the Servants of the Truth that are in many ways similar to Khorne Berzerkers. They are the result of the increased tendency towards the Red Thirst, and they serve in battle as the Warband’s elite shock troops. Many of them are veterans with centuries, if not millennia of experience. One of the main goals of the warriors of the Angels Chosen are to bond with a Daemon and become Secondborn. Those who manage this quickly secure some of the most prestigious positions in the Warband. Sanguinary Priests The Servants of the Truth utilize Sanguinary Priests, though they are quite different to those of their Loyalist counterparts. The Sanguinary Priests of the Blood Angels are viewed as blasphemy to the Primarch and his memory. Therefore, because they are viewed as the priests of the Angel’s Truth, these Sanguinary Priests are the Sorcerers of the Servants of the Truth. Some of these Priests, most notably their leader, claim to see visions from the Angel himself, granting a degree of credibility to their title. The Priests also act as the Warband’s Diabolists, with specialized cults aiding the Warband’s assault cadre in becoming Secondborn. Sanguinary Guard The Sanguinary Guard of the Servants of the Truth are much more similar to their loyalist counterparts. The most obvious of the differences that do exist is the aesthetic one. The pure, white, angelic wings of their predecessors and Loyalist brethren are instead a pitch black, and the prominent spikes on their helmets are broken. Tears of blood run down from the eye sockets, painted there with the blood of the armor’s owner. The teardrop of blood on their chest rests over a star of Chaos, and the armor is cracked and withered throughout. This physical demeaning represents the shame of the Sanguinary Guard as an Organization due to their failure to protect their Primarch from the Emperor’s treachery. They serve as the bodyguards to the Warband’s senior officers, from the Chaos Lords and up. These Bodyguards are hand picked by the Warlord from the Warband’s most fanatical and loyal stock. They are loyal to Abdiel Tiberian above all others, and many a potential rebellion has died in the crib thanks to their decisive action. Notably, no Secondborn Astartes are allowed to stand amongst the Sanguinary Guard, with the exception of the Companions of Blood, Abdiel’s own personal guard. Notable Members Warlord Abdiel Tiberian Abdiel has been leading the Servants since their inception at the end of the Horus Heresy. He is highly respected among the Warband, and among the Heretic Astartes at large. His command style is brutal, and rebellion is punished with death. Such a style is necessary in the Heretic Astartes. In battle, he leads from the front, the Companions of Blood at his side as he seeks out his foe blade in hand. Coronarius Cerviel Nentre Cervial Nentre is one of the Original 25 Blood Angels who defected and formed the Servants of the Truth. Nentre was one of the first Marines to become afflicted with the Red Thirst, and devoted himself to Khorne. He serves as Abdiel’s right hand, keeping the Warband’s Berserkers loyal to Abdiel through example and if necessary force, as he is reputably able to best any other in the Warband in single combat, save perhaps the Warlord himself. High Priest Darius Tibio Darius is another Crusade veteran, a founder of the Servants of the Truth Warband. Assigned to the First Bloodhost as their High Priest, he de facto holds the position of the highest Sanguinary Priest in all the Warband. His psychic prowess is unmatched among the Astartes in the Warband, and his visions from the Angel are the most vivid. Lord Sanguine Chenkhar Kaddas, “The Bloody” Chenkhar the Bloody is the Lord Sanguine of the Fourth Bloodhost. A veteran of a thousand battles, he has a reputation as the most cunning of the Lords Sanguine, a match for the Warlord himself in intellect. Appropriately, he has lead his Bloodhost to some of the Warband’s greatest victories, frequently outsmarting Imperial Commanders and leaving them vulnerable to the assault of the Servants’ shock infantry. Warband Fleet The Servants of the Truth, being primarily fleet based, possess considerable naval power. * 1 Space Hulk ** The Angel's Blessing * 15 Battleships *'Flagship:' The Red Tear (pronounced TAIR not TEER) Desecrator Class Battleship): When the Descreator Class Battleship first primered during the Gothic War, the Chaos Lords all over the Galaxy took note. Abdiel was among these, so immediately ordered the Warband's Dark Mechanicum cohorts to modify the Red Tear, his ancient Desolator class Battleship, into the new class. First taken from the World Eaters during the Legion Wars, and named in honor of their Father's fallen flagship, the Red Tear had served as the Warband's flagship. Others from among the Warband's fleet were converted into Desecrator battleships, but none received the same love and care as the Red Tear did. As many guns as inhumanly possible have been fitted to its deck, and its crewed by some of the Warband's finest. ** 5 Despoiler class ** 3 Descrator class ** 2 Desolator class ** 5 Battle Barges * 20 Grand Cruisers ** 3 Avenger Class ** 5 Retaliator class ** 10 Executor class ** 2 Repulsive class * 20 Heavy Cruisers ** 10 Styx class ** 6 Hecate class ** 2 Hades class ** 2 Hellfire class * 40 Light Cruisers ** 10 Murder class ** 5 Slaughter class ** 5 Inferno class ** 5 Devastation class ** 10 Slaughter cruisers ** 5 Hellbringer class * 170 Escort Squads' Quotes By the Servants of the Truth About the Servants of the Truth Feel free to add your own Allies Knights of Laeran Enemies Ashimar Nova Guard Video On January 10th, 2019, the Servants of the Truth were featured on the [https://www.youtube.com/user/remleiz 40k Theories Youtube Channel] as their Homebrew of the Week. Category:Blood Angels Successors Category:Chaos Category:Chaos Space Marines Category:Chaos Warbands